Okay, I get it now. The CHATS are on Mountain Time, while book club is on Pacific time. So for me on Eastern Time, this chat would start at 3 p.m., right???
Alessandra Federici ~ Cortona...It's More Than a Story in 'The Book!'
With only a few more details to be ironed out, I'd like to welcome Alessandra Federici, who will be our Guest Host in Slow Chat on Sunday May 7th at 1:00 P.M. MDT.
Alessandra lives in Cortona, Italy and passionately loves her home town...if you've ever thought about taking some time in Cortona and area and then changed your mind and decided not to, for whatever reason, you must meet Alessandra! She'll change your mind in a heartbeat. I know, because she changed mine!
Il Girasole ~ An Etruscan Gift Shop is Alessandra's shop in Cortona, where you'll find the most amazing jewellry, linens, ceramics...well, take a look at her website!
Book some time this Sunday to chat with Alessandra...have your questions about her beloved Cortona ready, and she'll be delighted to chat with you!
“A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month's study of books." ~ Chinese proverb Brenda
[edited by chris to fix date]
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris,
Originally posted by suncoast: Okay, I get it now. The CHATS are on Mountain Time, while book club is on Pacific time. So for me on Eastern Time, this chat would start at 3 p.m., right???
Ginger
Ginger:
I'm Eastern Time too, and that's what I calculate. We'll either both be there on time ... or ...
World Clock...this is my best friend when it comes to figuring out time zones. Seems to me that it should be easy, but I get really, really confused when I'm trying to make sense of the difference between here and there, wherever here and there is!
Ginger, I think that you are in Eastern Daylight Time, so you'll be 2 hours ahead of my Mountain Daylight Time. That makes chat time 3:00 P.M. for you. (If this is not correct, can someone clarify this for me?) I love the world clock because it makes this whole time change thing a little easier to figure out.
The weekend of the first Slow Chat with Clive and Sue, we switched from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time, just to add to the confusion! I was here in Slow Chat an hour early that weekend, because I wasn't sure, myself!
"Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save." ~ Will Rogers Brenda
Leslie, I'm so sorry about this time thing for you! There are other chats in the works that will be at a different time so hopefully you will be able to join in without losing half a night's sleep. That's one of the tough things about booking a guest host...finding a time that works for them and then working it into a time for the rest of the world. Were you totally bagged after getting up so early for the last one? I'm not sure I'd roll out of bed at 4:30 A.M. to get ready for a 5:00 A.M. chat time, either!
Yes, Alessandra, you are right! When it is 9:00 P.M. your time, it's 1:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time in my area. Are you ready, girl?
These Slow Chats are really fun to prepare for, and more than fun to participate in...I truly appreciate you taking the time to be our Guest Host, and I want to invite everyone who has some time to share with us to join us in Slow Chat on Sunday!
“It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.” ~ Yogi Berra Brenda
No worries mate I will be happy to read the transcript. I think these are a great idea - a very clever cookie thought this idea up! We are so lucky that Alessandra agreed to talk with our group. She is such a help to everyone with information. How lucky she is, living in beautiful Cortona.
Leslie, Thanks for the compliment! I've been called a lot of things but never a cookie ...chocolate chip or gingersnap? A sugar cookie, perhaps???
This Slow Chat has been so much fun for me to play with...I know that I learned so much about the planning of my first trip to Europe from the many wise ST'ers who were kind enough to meet me in the chat room and give me such good advice and helpful suggestions for my trip. It's a great format for getting together and talking with people from all over our world. This still amazes me...how I can meet people in chat who live in Spain, Australia, Italy, England, France, U.S., New Zealand...and we can chat instantaneously!
Alessandra is a very cool lady, and she will be happy to share her love of Cortona and area. I spent a day with her in her home town last spring, and it was such a joy to see Cortona through her eyes. She showed me the beauty of the area and the charm of her town...I'll most definitely be going back again!
I've had a few people ask about the chat format, so here's my thoughts...with the first Slow Chat session with Clive and Sue, I basically let it free flow, with no restrictions or guidelines, except to make sure that I welcomed each new person as they entered the chat room. It was a pretty fast-moving, fun and frenetic chat, and it ran well over 2 1/2 hours!
With our second chat session with Barb and Art, I tried a new format...asking each person in turn for a question for Barb and Art, then opening the chat to everyone. I also tried not to interrupt the chat by welcoming each person as they entered chat. I felt that this format slowed everything down a bit and maybe was not the wisest choice, although I think it gave Barb and Art a bit more time than Clive and Sue had, to read and answer our questions. After the individual questions, the chat picked up and became a very energetic conversation! Again, we were in chat for 2 1/2 hours or more!
So, going back to what works, I think that with this next chat session, I will revert to the free flowing format, with people posting their questions and keeping the chat rolling along. It seems to work better!
We'll see how it goes...I'm expecting a really light and entertaining chat...with Alessandra's personality, it will definitely be fun!
"...a good and wholesome thing is a little harmless fun in this world; it tones a body up and keeps him human and prevents him from souring." ~ Mark Twain Brenda
I have participated in the chats with Clive and Sue, Barb and Art, Shannon on eating in Venice, and one of the CRC book club chats. I'm sure it has seemed fast to the guests (especially with a dial-up or slow connection), but I have to say that for those who are used to a chat room format, it has really been SLOW. This is by no means a complaint! I have enjoyed all of the chats I have participated in. I think the guests have done a wonderful job keeping up with the flow, and the moderator/facilitators have been super! This group is considerate as a whole, and people have been respectful, tried not to "interrupt" each other, or have "waited their turn". A chat is sort of like a party. Sometimes there is more than one conversation going on, or someone asks a new question before the last speaker was finished. Sometimes we get excited, the typing fingers start flying, and it's a lively conversation. It's OK. The moderator's job is to keep us on the general topic, and greetings or good-byes aren't too distracting either. Let's try to think of the interruptions as "creative overlapping". Maybe the guests could say if they think things are moving too quickly, or they're feeling overwhelmed. Brenda, I agree with your expectation of "a light and entertaining chat" without too many rules or restrictions. One smart cookie. This is just the opinion of an "Experienced Chatter". I look forward to Sunday with Alessandra!
...and that's wy we love you so much, Alessandra! Nothing more refreshing than straighforward talk...so you bring all of yourself to the chat, don't leave your directness at home ok?
Oh, and one more thing? Don't even try to be politically correct, Alessandra!
"Honesty: the best of all the lost arts." ~ Mark Twain Brenda
One more observation - from someone very new to this whole chat thing!
On occasion there appears to be a lull in conversation, so I type in my question. Obviously others are doing the same thing, so by the time I hit 'send' it may appear to be an interruption.
There isn't a solution to this, it is obviously just part of chat .... so just wanted to say that there are interruptions, but they aren't always intentional.
In chat I have tried to avoid the flippant comments that one might make in person without affecting the flow of conversation – but I have never had much control over my mouth!
Sheena
Posts: 2184 | Location: West Vancouver, B.C. Canada | Registered: 28 February 2004
I think the beauty of chat is exactly what you are describing, Sheena! It's like layer upon layer of overlapping conversation, and when it free-flows or tumbles along, it is fabulous! The little spaces in the conversation are good because they encourage everyone to speak up, and then off we go again!
For everyone joining us for the Slow Chat with Alessandra on Sunday, please feel free to join in the conversation and ask your questions as we go along! You might make a list of things you want to ask, and store the list in a Word document, then cut and paste to the chat room text box, if that makes it quicker for posting your questions.
The other thing to remember is that we are posting our questions as we think of them, and the Guest Host has to read them, then write her answer while we are writing more questions! I'm sure it will be all good...looking forward to Sunday's chat!
“One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody's listening.” ~ Franklin P. Jones Brenda
Slow Travel Talk 
There are other chats in the works that will be at a different time so hopefully you will be able to join in without losing half a night's sleep. That's one of the tough things about booking a guest host...finding a time that works for them and then working it into a time for the rest of the world. Were you totally bagged after getting up so early for the last one? I'm not sure I'd roll out of bed at 4:30 A.M. to get ready for a 5:00 A.M. chat time, either!
...chocolate chip or gingersnap? A sugar cookie, perhaps???
